Things are never as they seem
by Kristoshi Warrior
Summary: An alternate beginning to the story, including the son of the firelord & an airbender-both enemies of the fire nation? & when Aang & Katara leave for the north pole, how come Sokka decides to go too, unoticed by either bender? And is Aang just the avatar?
1. The Airbender & The Son of the Firelord

Chapter I: THE AIRBENDER AND THE SON OF THE FIRELORD

In order to understand this, you must yourselves understand that I've played with the characters a bit to suit my story better. If you want an image of the prison, think of Aang's prison during the episode 'The blue spirit'. R&R!

* * *

"Prince Zuko", the firelord stated to the large entrance hall, his back turned away from the bowing youth in front of him, "you have disappointed me. We all know that a prince just isn't suitable for the expansive task of being firelord…" He paused, for a dramatic effect, "if he hasn't taken a life by the age of sixteen." Flinging himself around, Fire Lord Ozai turned on the fair skinned boy kneeling before him, the teen's silky black hair streaming down his back, right down to his waist. "Also, a prince must want what is best for his country, is that not right?"

"Father, I don't know what you're talking about! I-"

"Silence!" Roared Ozai, so loud that the entire hall seemed to hold its breath: no one dared to exhale for fear of breaking the icy stillness that echoed throughout the vast chamber.

"There are rumors, Prince Zuko, that you were assisting some men from the water tribe to escape from my wrath in that very prison that we can all see from this window right here."

"No, I would never-"

"You would never what!" The ruler of the fire nation screamed, stunning his already pale son into silence. Behind them both, Princess Azula snickered, but was silenced by her Uncle, General Iroh, also known as the Dragon of the West, with a quick tap on the arm.

"I am sure that you would never betray me, Prince Zuko…"

"Father, thank you! I'm sure tha-"

"But even so, as the first is correct, then you shall suffer anyway, so I see no harm in letting you enjoy both punishments, just as a precaution… such a shame, you used to show much promise… "

Pulling back his hand, Ozai thrust his fist forwards, releasing flame as he did so, then when his fist collided with his son's face, the pain was unbearable for the prince, who almost blacked out from pure shock.

Turning his back once more on the startled teen collapsed at his feet, he raised one hand, summoning some of his guards to take the young prince away.

At Ozai's gesture, ropes were quickly secured around Zuko's hands and feet, and while he struggled, he could not break free from his bonds, but he refused to give up, until one of the guards struck him from behind, rendering him truly unconscious. The last things he had seen were the smirking faces of his father and sister, before darkness took over, and Zuko, crown prince of the fire nation, collapsed on the floor.

* * *

That had been almost a month ago. The burn his father had given him still hurt, but not so badly as the searing pain that had come previously. His eyesight had wavered and his left eye had been rendered useless, as was his left ear, and his unkempt raven black hair hung loosely about his shoulders. His only clothes consisted of a black material sewn crudely together with large, uneven stitches, making a rather ragged tunic and a pair of pants, and a plain red belt around his waist, greatly contrasting his prison suit. The only thing he had been allowed to keep was his crown, which tucked into the belt, safe from the prying eyes of guards.

Apart from his rather disheveled appearance, Zuko's time in prison had done nothing for him, except to make him extremely hot tempered, and he would absolutely not cooperate with anyone who came within twenty metres of him, thus, most of the patrolling guards were stationed _outside _his door, not caring to face the wrath of the captured prince, who was continually spurting fire from his teeth at unsuspectant times, and so far had burnt three or four people, before the soldiers had learned their lesson and stayed away to the extent permitted.

The cell he was being held in was a rather large, spacious room, the walls and floors being made of bright metal that had a reddish hue to it. The space was of no use to the prisoner, though. Zuko, being a fire bender, and a good one at that, was no longer bound with lengths of rope; instead, shackles of blue steel held his wrists and ankles in place on one end, and two heavy posts that had been soldered into the ground on the other, making it so he could not move more than a hands breadth in any direction away for the iron claws that trapped him in this unseemly position.

Zuko was wandering in his mind when Commander Zhao walked into the room, accompanied by Lieutenant Jee and another man Zuko was unfamiliar with, and Zhao, striding up to Zuko, stood straight so that they were level, and looked directly into the molten gold eyes of the prince.

"I never thought I'd find you in here… _Prince _Zuko" leered Zhao, spitting out the word 'prince' as if it was nothing more than a disgusting piece of dirt that had found its way to the tip of his tongue.

"Commander Zhao, what a pleasant surprise." Zuko replied in much the same tone as Zhao had used, "I certainly wasn't expecting any- uh – _superior _persons such as yourself to come all this way to see the little prince rotting away in this lonely old place, isn't this little bit far from your usual field?"

As Zhao leaned in closer to the boy so that their noses were almost touching, creating a new record of how close anyone had approached the prince since he had arrived there, Zhao started to whisper something into Zuko's left ear, and Zuko felt the man's stinking breath on his face, so, opening his mouth wide, he roared, sending fire flying, and catching the unsuspecting commander on his right arm as he lifted it to shield his face.

The three men fled the room, lieutenant Jee and the stranger supported Zhao, who was clutching his arm, and as they left, Zuko heard Jee tell one of the guards: "I'm fed up with this one. Listen, I want you to poison the boy's food. Not so much that he'll…"

Zuko turned away. He didn't want to hear any more. Only one thing was for sure in this wretched prison: He wasn't going to be eating anything over the span of the next few days.

* * *

"Watch and learn Katara! Now this is how you catch a fish!" Sokka, son of Chief Hakoda of the southern water tribe, was staring intently into the deep crystal blue waters of the icy South Pole seas, spear poised, observing the fish that swam about beneath them, and was about to strike, when his sister called to him, "Sokka, Sokka, look, I caught one, now look!"

"Not now, Katara! Oh, look, I can already smell it cookin'!" He exclaimed, emphasizing on the last four words. He leaned back, preparing to deliver the final blow, when SPLASH!! He didn't know how it happened, but all of a sudden he was soaking wet, and Katara was yelling at _him _for letting the fish get away.

"But Sokka, I caught one!" she moaned at him.

"I don't care! Seriously! How is it that every time you play with magic water, I end up getting drenched!"

"Sokka, it's not 'magic water', it's waterbending! It's a-"

"Cultural heritage, unique to our nation, yeah, yeah, whatever." Turning back to what he had been doing, Sokka noticed that they were moving, and fast, too! They had been so absent minded when they yelled at each other, neither Sokka nor Katara had noticed that they had drifted right into the centre of the ice flow, and were now headed downstream at a very fast pace.

"Katara, help me!"

"What am I supposed to do, just keep on paddling!", and then, "Go left! No! The other left!" She screamed at her older brother.

Before Sokka had time to react, the two water tribe siblings were stuck, trapped between two icebergs, and before they knew it, the boat was being crushed beneath them as they were flung forwards onto the ice.

"Call that left?" Katara smirked Sokka, when he replied,

"Hey, its not like you were doing anything to help us out! Couldn't you at least have magic watered us out of the iceberg field or something?"

"Are you saying that it's _my _fault" Katara screamed at him haughtily, not really believing that Sokka could really mean that…right?

"Yep, I am!" He assured her.

"You are the most…." Katara started on a long list of names, and at each word she spoke, the giant iceberg behind her formed large cracks the height of the tent Sokka and Katara lived in, maybe more.

"Have you smelt your dirty socks? Let me tell you, they STINK!!..."

"Um, Katara, -" Sokka started trying to warn her,

"No! You know, I am done taking care of you! From now on, YOU'RE ON YOUR **OWN!! **

She screamed the last word as loud as she could, causing the humongous towering iceberg behind her to split clean down the middle, and fall into the water as echoes of Katara's voice ricocheted off the blocks of ice surrounding them.

As soon as the words had left her mouth, the force of the huge tower of ice slipping under water knocked Sokka and Katara off their feet. Together, they watched in amazement, as right in front of their eyes, a glowing iceberg popped out of the water. Glancing at it, Katara gasped as a figure inside the block of ice caught her attention, the eyes of a human being flickered open, and without further ado, Katara had grabbed her brother's club, and was frantically trying to break open the ice without success, until she implied her waterbending, and the figure inside the ice cake moved. Slowly, he moved to the top, his arrow tattoos glowing, along with his eyes, mouth, and nostrils, before the lights suddenly dimmed and vanished, and the boy in the iceberg slipped and fell, right into Katara's waiting arms.

After a moment that seemed like an eternity, he seemed to come out of his daze.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Uuhh… sure…" Katara replied, uncertainly.

"Lean closer!" Obliging to the boy's request, Katara bent forwards, when the boys playful gray eyes suddenly popped open, wide awake, and in an excited to of voice, he asked:

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

Katara and Sokka just stared.

* * *

The day had gone well, Katara thought. Aang, for that was his name, was an airbender, a master airbender, and that was strange in itself, (as she remembered, she snickered, imagining her brother's face when they saw the glowing iceberg pop out of the freezing Antarctic water), but when Aang had introduced them to his pet flying bison, Katara had practically frozen in her place in shock. The creature, introduced to them by Aang as Appa, was a large fluffy beast with a purple arrow on his head, similar to his friends, and the arrow continued in a line right down his back onto his huge beaver-panda like tail. Again, that was odd, but then, the animal had six legs. Six! Katara wondered why it needed all of those extra limbs, but then, this was an airbender's _flying bison _she was talking about here, not exactly your everyday gibb.

Now Aang was inside the family tent, sleeping soundly. Sokka was still complaining that you couldn't pick up just anybody you found out in the middle of the ocean… "You never know, he could be fire nation in disguise!"

"Yeah, because the fire nation have such a huge supply of airbenders at hand, Sokka."

That comment had shut his up long enough for Katara to run off to find her grandmother, who was cooking over the outdoor fire. She sighed. It was funny how the same element that was trying to take control over them and wipe them out was at the same time necessary for their survival in these hazardous polar conditions. It was so _beautiful, _yet it inflicted so much pain upon the world.

"Honey? I know you came out here for a reason, don't be shy, just talk to me."

"Ok, Gran Gran, How about this. That boy Sokka and I found in the iceberg was glowing with his tattoos when he popped up out of nowhere, he's a master airbender, and he owns a pet flying bison, he says he knew people that knew the avatar, and he's a _bender_! A real bender come to the South Pole! Gran Gran, he can teach me! "

"Glowing…" Her grandmother's voice seemed to mix with that of the calm ocean water as she seemed to drift off into dream land.

"Gran Gran?" Katara asked, worriedly. At the sound of Katara's voice, Kana was all of a sudden shoved back into reality.

"Katara, dear, I know your intent on learning waterbending as best you can, but really…" Kana's voice trailed off, but her granddaughter piped up shamelessly,

"Gran Gran! Please! I mean, he looks small and all, but I can sense that he is filled with much wisdom!" At this exclamation, Kana raised her eyebrows uncertainly. Silence settled between the two of them, which was then echoed throughout the entire village.

Finally, Gran Gran broke the silence. "Katara, you'd better go. It seems your friend is waking up."


	2. The Villager's Surprise

Chapter II: THE VILLAGER'S SURPISE

Zuko moaned inwardly. He hadn't eaten anything in over a week, and the hunger pains that gnawed at the insides of his stomach were starting to get the better of him. He had been visited a couple of times, but each time it was only a common foot soldier brining him food. Poisoned food, he thought bitterly to himself, staring at it in disdain. He was still eyeing it in disgust, when the door was flung open with so much force that it hit the wall behind it, and in pranced Commander Zhao, his right arm held in a sling, brandishing a weapon of some sort in his hand. After him entered lieutenant Jee, who wouldn't even make eye contact with Zuko, and judging by that, the youth predicted that this was not going to go pleasantly.

Even though Zhao's arm was injured, there was something about him today. Leaning forwards a far as his bonds would permit, Zuko hissed at his captor,

"So, Zhao, you decided to come back so soon?"

"Smile as you might now, Prince Zuko, but rest assured, you will not like the outcome if this particular visit".

He spoke so quietly that Zuko could barely hear his words, but the prince would not back down. Opening his mouth to throw out his comeback, he was startled when a large SNAP! resonated through the stillness of the prison chamber.

Lifting his head up, he saw what Zhao had been brandishing before. In front of his face was a dragon o' ten tails, with ten separate whips attached to a single rod, and at the tip of each lash, there was a burning ember, so that once the victim's back made contact with the tail ends of the many whips, the back of the victim would burn as if it was on fire.

"You and I are going to have some fun today, My Prince." And then Zhao brought the whip down on Zuko's back, landing with a sickening CRACK!, tearing through the black fabric that covered his upper body.

The pain was tremendous, but the crown prince's pride would not let get Zhao get the better of him. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated hard on a single memory, powerful enough that he might be able to ignore the pain, if only for a little while.

_He saw himself, dressed in a silk suit of royal red and gold, boots of dark black with a single golden strip starting at the top of the shoe, level with his knee, and continuing down right to the tip of the toe, which was curled slightly upwards, the tip ending in a sharp point. Upon his head he bore a golden crown, in the shape of a flame. It was reflecting the sunlight, glimmering so that all could see. _

_The memory was fresh in his mind, but it was different in some way… as if he was outside his body, watching himself. _

_As if that wasn't really him._

Zhao brought the whip down upon Zuko's body again, but the prince didn't so much as flinch. Zhao scowled. Oh, he'd show the kid who was boss, alright.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his arm back again, as he did so, grimacing in harsh satisfaction as he noted the blood that the twenty 'tails' had released from the prince's veins.

He struck again, and this time the boy acknowledged the blow, tensing his hand, creating a fist, to which Zhao laughed loudly.

"You're going to have a rather hard time hitting me today, Prince Zuko. I wouldn't advice trying. You'll only get yourself _HURT!_" He screamed, bring the whip down again on the pale flesh of the unfortunate youth, who was now wincing in pain quite visibly.

* * *

Zuko had been just getting deeper into his mind, when the whip was plunged into his flesh again, jolting him back into reality. He felt his fingers curl into a ball, and Zhao was laughing at him, making the urge to punch the commander back into the days of the air nomads so great, resisting it took much of his self control.

He felt the whip again, and while it was only the fourth time he had been struck, forty identical cuts were now displayed upon his back, grace of the ten tails, and the fabric at the back of his shirt had been cut clean through, and now hung in ragged strips of cloth off his shoulders and chest, leaving his bloody flesh exposed.

But Zhao wasn't done yet.

Striding over to Zuko, he kicked the teen in the midst of where all the lashes had fallen on his back, in his side, on the rib cage, in the stomach, and lastly, he drew back his free fist and punched the unfortunate prince in the face, then watched in satisfaction as the teen went suddenly limp.

Smiling, he put his dragon o' ten tails away. His job here was done.

* * *

"Aang! You're finally awake!" Katara cried, rushing into the tent where she and some of the other villagers had deposited him during his deep sleep.

"Come on, you have to meet everybody!"

Sighing, Aang drifted from his troubled state, and started to put his shirt on, which had also been removed during the night.

It was rather awkward, with a Katara in the small space with him, so he turned away to face instead the blue canvas forming the walls that he had slept in, but he barely got any time to think, for as soon as he was dressed, Katara wasted no time what so ever in grabbing him by the wrist, and pulling him outside, grabbing his wooden airbending staff along the way.

Once he was exposed to the sunlight, Aang felt a sudden rush of power surge through him, but brushing it aside, he straightened himself into an upright position, and assumed what he hoped to appear as a serious expression.

"Entire village, this is Aang. Aang, entire village." Katara exclaimed, a smile as cheerful and bright as the sum shining on her young face.

Glancing round, Aang noted that entire village was comprised of about twenty people total, with women and children, but no matter how hard he looked, he could not find a single man, the oldest male being the paranoid kid, Sokka.

Briefly wondering why the situation was such, as he looked at her, a woman suddenly pulled her young toddler closer into her embrace, as if Aang might suddenly hurt the little girl who was staring at him so apprehensively.

The other women quickly followed suit, excluding Sokka and Katara, who, he observed were the only teenagers in the village, and therefore stood out. All the others were either old or very, very young.

"Um, Katara?"

"Yes, Aang?"

"Why is everybody staring at me like that?"

An old woman with gray hair and many wrinkled on her aged face stepped forward from the crowd, answering his question for him. "Well, no one has seen an air nomad in the past one hundred years. We all thought they were extinct." She replied, bluntly.

"Extinct?" That wasn't right. I mean, he could only have been in that iceberg a couple of days, now, but she said they hadn't seen and air nomad in the past one hundred years. How long had he really been frozen? What had happened? Why had he felt the urge to run away? What happened to Monk Gyatso and the others? No, it must have been the fact that the southern water tribe didn't communicate with the rest of the world much. And that was another thing. He had always been taught that the southern water tribe was a great civilization, and that the buildings rivaled that of the great air temples themselves. _What had happened?_ No, it was just a lack of communication. That was it.

"What is this? A weapon?"

Aang was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts, as Sokka grabbed hold of his staff and proceeded to poke him with it.

"You can't stab anything with this!"

"It's not a weapon, it's for airbending!" He explained carefully, gently pulling the staff back with a little gust of wind. "It's a glider which enables me to control the air currents around me, letting me fly!"

"You know, last time I checked, _Humans can't fly!_" Sokka grumbled at him, moodily.

Aang laughed. "Check again!" He snickered, and as he twirled it, wings and a tail popped out of his staff, transforming it into a bright orange glider.

Flinging it up into the air, Aang jumped onto his glider and grabbed it, using his hands and legs both to hold onto it. Soaring up, he twirled round and round, first vertically, then horizontally, the sideways, and all the directions in between. He twisted and turned, he did spirals and looped the loop, all the while smiling, and accepting the children's joyful encore with much enthusiasm. He flipped over and flew due west, when he noticed Katara looking at him, just as excited as all the rest of the little toddlers, her eyes shining that most brilliant blue, and Aang couldn't help but stare, enraptured, into their depth and wonder how - SPLAT!! Aang had gotten distracted, and forgotten to change direction and crashed into what Sokka claimed to be a watch tower, getting his head stuck within the walls of snow, which was cold on his face, and when he finally succeeded in pulling himself out of the large structure, he couldn't help but grin sheepishly at Katara and the other villagers, all whom of which were roaring in gales of laughter.

"Well, you'll be the death of me, young airbender!" The old woman exclaimed.

"Aang, meet my grandmother, Kana. Gran Gran, this is Aang."

"Call me Gran Gran." Sokka and Katara's grandmother had just brushed aside her laugh, and pulled off a serious expression, and made her say very straight forwardly.

"Oh, um, ok, nice to meet you. My name is Aang, resident monk of the southern air temple."

Gran Gran stepped forwards towards Aang until she was so close that he could feel her warm breath on his normally smiling face. Staring him directly in the eye, she asked him her question.

"Tell me, young air nomad, are you the avatar?"

Aang's face paled. "No! I mean, I'm not, but I knew people-" He indicated something with his right finger pointing it first at himself, then over his shoulder to where the rest of the southern water tribe were watching, "Who knew him, I just—It's not me! I…!" He looked away guiltily. The heavy weight on his shoulders was starting to become too much for him.

"I only wanted you to answer one question! Not three!" She snorted. "But you say you knew people who knew him, right?"

Aang could only nod, mutely as a koi fish.

"So, what did these people think of him? Was he a master? Was he strong? Brave? Courageous?"

"The only thing I know about him" He paused, thinking about how he could put his thoughts into words, "Was he never wanted to be who he was destined to be."

The whole village fell silent. The very wind brushing through the camp that served as the villager's homes seemed loud and shrill to Aang's ears.

Not wanting to hear any more, Aang stormed back inside his tent and fell asleep, completely oblivious to the excited whispers of the native southerners.


	3. The Attack!

Chapter III : THE ATTACK !

The door of Zuko's cell swung open quietly. A man in blood red armor stood in the doorway, looking in on the limp prince, who was drooping lifelessly in his chains, though still breathing. Walking in, he placed a bowl of food next to the boy, and stood looking at him with mingled feelings.

It had been very awkward for a lot of the guards in the prison, when the doors had swung open and some soldiers had walked in, dragging the crown prince. Several of them suspected mutiny, and readied themselves to fight the prince's captors, but had been ordered otherwise by the warden, which had lead to further confusion, but not a single fight had broken out.

He had watched, horror stuck, as the young man was thrown into the highest security cell there was to be had in the prison, probably in the entire Fire Nation, for that matter. What had the prince done to get thrown in here? He was the only member of the royal family ever to have been thrown into jail, if memory served.

He remembered, as he had stared in shock, when the youth had been turned over to face him, exposing his face.

His face— Agni, it was terrible. Almost the entire left hand side was burnt to a crisp, as if someone had intentionally slammed him in the face with a fire fist, and no dressing had been put on it, no healing had been applied, so it had become infected, and swelled up a furious red, and while it had not yet healed, and probably never would heal entirely, one could already tell that the injury had left the one eye a slightly paler color than the other one, on the right, which remained untouched on the other side of his face.

When the prince was tranquil, like at this such moment, the guard couldn't help but feel sorry for the ill-fated boy. So, young, to have suffered more than most adults would ever have to endure.

Heavy footsteps outside the metal door brought him out of his thoughts, and he quickly turned on heel and left, locking the door behind him.

He withdrew from the room not a moment too soon.

Prince Zuko was waking up.

* * *

Zuko moaned. He felt awful. His head was throbbing painfully, as if a spinning wheel was continually working its way through all the wool in the four nations. The entire world around him seemed to be comprised of red, but for the blurry shadows dancing on the walls, which were of a rich brown, and there was some sort of square-ish blob in front of him that was a tone darker than most of the rest of what he could see, which, now that he thought about it, was where the door was.

His back, if anything, was worse than his head, and it felt as if baby dragons were plying a particularly violent game of hide and explode, from the way it burned, and his eye began to water, which then turned into a tear, and fell down his soft cheek, into his mouth. It tasted salty on his tongue, like a droplet of sea water accidentally swallowed when swimming at Ember Island.

Following this first tear, several more dripped out from beneath his heavy eyelids, forming a gentle stream down his face. And for the first time in years, he simply cried.

It felt good, like he was finally able to let some of his feelings out, to express what he had kept bottled up inside him for what seemed like a lifetime, even though it had only been a month and a half. The water was warm on his tired face, loosening up his tense muscles, soothing his aching skin. The liquid was not nearly enough to quench his dry throat, but it moistened his parched tongue, for aside from not eating, he had also refused to drink, making him weak and weary, as if all his energy had been drained from him in one go. Today, he decided, his fasting would be over, and he would eat, regardless of any poison there might be.

Sniffing the air, he smelled what was presumably his meal. There was no breakfast, or lunch, in prison. Your one meal was your only meal. Looking towards his feet, he saw that it was a bowl of rice, sitting right there next to him, and he was ready to reach down for, but his bonds would not permit him. Growling, he decided that the only possible thing to do was wait. And he had time.

* * *

A full day had passed by the time Aang awoke again, and stepping outside the triangular prism of ocean blue fabric, he looked around him.

The snow was fresh falling at his feet, but the sun was still shining brilliantly, carefree from the worries of the rest of the world. It was a South Pole summer, the days when the sun never set, when the moon rose during the daytime, granting the waterbenders with its power, though not as strongly as when the stars were out as well. Even as Aang took a deep breath, he could feel the joint energy of the sun and the moon coursing through his, enhancing his power level greatly.

Looking around him, he noticed that all the villagers seemed to have gone to bed. How anyone could sleep in such conditions puzzled him, but he suspected that they were used to it. After all, they knew nothing other than this icy land, barren of crops and instead filled with ice and snow. It was there home.

Home. Aang began to wonder about him home, up in the mountains, in the Southern Air Temple. He thought of the monks reactions to his sudden appearance after all that time he had been assumed dead. He wondered if they would greet him as the air nomad that he was, or as a stranger. He hoped that he wouldn't have to go alone, actually. He was startled by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Aang?"

"Yes, Katara?"

"There's something I…I feel you ought to know. It's about the air nomads-"

"Just because no-one has seen them for a hundred years doesn't been they don't exist! I mean, what could possibly have happened to them? And anyways, where are all the men of your tribe? I haven't seen a single one, no matter what Sokka thinks of himself."

Katara's face darkened. Her blue eyes suddenly froze and icy blue, scaring Aang with the determination they showed within her irises.

"My father and the others-the other men-- are out there," she replied sadly, pointing out to the open seas that lead to foreign shores. "They're fighting in the war. The same war in which all your people were said to be wiped out in. The same war-" A single tear glistened down her cheek, and her delicate hand rose up to touch a pendant on a blue string which she wore around her neck. It was a carving, a beautiful piece of work of waves and swirls, so finely done it was a wonder such a feat was possible.

"The same war which took my mother away from me." She finished, and there was a note of longing in her voice, as well as a tone which clarified finality.

"Oh-I'm so sorry Katara. I didn't mean to bring it up." He expressed his emotions freely.

But- "War?" Aang was scared. Very scared. How long had this war been going on? Who had been fighting whom? He voiced his thoughts to Katara-

"What war? How long had it been going on? Were my people fighting in it? Are we supposed to be _enemies?_"

"No. After the fire avatar disappeared, the Fire Nation attacked. They wiped out the air nomads, and the avatar was not reincarnated into them, and ceased to exist in this world. Now they're working on the Wter Tribes and Earth Kingdom."

"No. NO!" Aang yelled, to no one in particular. "It's not true-you're lying!"

He flung himself down onto the snow, buried his head in it, and started to cry.

"Aang-" Katara felt really terrible now. She had not intended to have him find out quite like that.

"Aang. Please. Come here." She stammered. When he didn't respond, she walked over to him, and putting her arm around his thin body, she pulled him up into a bear hug.

"Maybe your right Aang. Just because no one's seen them in a hundred years doesn't been they don't still exist."

His sobs receded, and calming himself, he looked back up into her beautiful blue eyes.

"I'm going to visit the southern Air Temple as soon as I leave the South Pole. I have to know for myself if the monks are dead or alive."

Smiling half heartedly, she sighed. She hoped he was right, but some part of her told her she wasn't. She didn't say anything, though. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope.

* * *

Sokka couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in his sleeping bag, but when he turned one way, the sun found a way in. When he turned the other way, he would land on something hard. Sighing, he gave up trying to sleep. Pulling his parka over his head, he ducked as he stood up. Grabbing his warrior club, he stepped out of the tent flap into the blinding sunlight. Looking over a ways, he could see his sister and the air monk talking. Then- he saw the arrowhead throw himself down, and his sister pull his up into a hug. He was about to run over to him- _what was the bald kid doing anyways? Hugging his sister_- when he saw that they were both crying.

His legs froze. He was rooted to the spot, completely unable to move from his current position. Then he saw it. Just a little bit of black soot drifted down amongst the snowflakes and landed at his feet. Forcing himself to move, he ran over to his sister and the baldy, terrified.

The Fire Nation had come for them.

"You two! Get over here!"

Aang and Katara looked up, startled, to see none other than Sokka racing over to them like he's caught on fire.

"What is it Sokka?" The waterbender demanded.

"Yeah, tell us!" Aang added.

"F-f-f-FIRE NATION!!!!" Sokka screamed.

"Look, I found some soot from their ships! You remember dad was always telling us to look out for it? Well, they're here! They've come to finish us off! They know you're a waterbender! Or, rather, they know about Aang! They're going to destroy us! We need to wake everybody up! Some on!" Sokka was raving, and they could tell that even through his 'man' guise, he was scared.

Katara was the first to react. "Sokka, get ready to fight if you have to. Grab you club spear and boomerang. Get my boomerang too. Aang, come with me to help wake everyone up. We need to be prepared. Let's evacuate the village."

"There's no time!" Sokka exclaimed. And he was right. The coal black soot from a blood red funnel was littering the sky.

Katara, once again, reacted fast. "I know how to wake everybody up. You guys, prepare for battle." And then, she opened her mouth and screamed, as loud as she could, and the iceberg behind her cracked, and there was a sudden hustle bustle as everybody climbed out on top of each other to see what the matter was.

"FIRE NATION!!!" She hollered. "Everybody! Old people, get the little ones and hide! Everybody else, prepare yourselves for battle!"

No one moved. Everybody was staring at her, as if she was crazy. Then Lenna, a young toddler who had just recently learned to throw a boomerang, tugged on her grandmother's shirt, and whined, "Come on Gramama! Let's _go!_" And then everybody else thawed from their shocked states, and preparation was going smoothly. Until-

"They're here!" Yelled Sokka, who had been keeping watch. Katara, Aang, Sokka, and a few older women all lined up in front of where the ship was docking. There were seven of them total, against a ship filled to the brim with fire benders.

The ramp was dropped onto the icy shores, and from the ship, a pale skinned young woman with raven black hair, and amber eyes walked. At the top of her head, where her hair was done up in a bun, sat a crown, taking the shape of the flame of Agni over which she ruled.

Princess Azula.

Following her on the right came a taller girl with her shiny, sleek hair done up in three buns, with two strands running down either shoulder. Her face was pale, like the first, and she brought out from one of her bell sleeves a throwing knife, which she fingered lovingly, and prepared to throw it.

On the left, a grey-eyed girl dressed in pink from head to toe ventured. Unlike the other two, however, she walked out on her hands, looking as comfortable as anyone else would walking. Her grey eyes were absolutely huge, and Katara guessed that the princess' sidekicks couldn't be more than a year older than herself.

The princess herself, was not amused by the pink girl's antics.

Katara heard her yell, "Ty Lee, what are you doing, get off the ground! Now!"

The newly named Ty Lee obeyed, flipping upright with such precarious balance, it was inhuman. _She must have hollow bones_, Katara laughed inwardly.

Looking again, she saw the princess smirk. _I'll wipe that grin off your face, Princess! _And readying herself, she pulled some water from the ocean and flung it at her at the same time Sokka charged. The princess laughed, when she saw the painted boy running towards her. He had a spear- which was easily broken. She brought her foot round and it splintered the stick which the blade was attached to, then dealt the boy a punch which sent him flying off the ramp he had charged up so confidently. The girl on the right, with the knives, then threw some senbon at him, pinning him to the floor. She did not, however, see the water coming, at least, not until it was too late. It slammed into her from behind, knocking her down.

She tumbled down the ramp, stopping just before the bottom, and stood up.

"Where is he! I know your hiding him somewhere!" She cried. Then she punched the air in front of her, and two identical balls of cerulean fire formed, and caught onto the nearest tent, setting it ablaze.

"Give him to me, and you will not be harmed! Hide him from me, and I will destroy your entire village, and your pitiful civilization into the bargain!"

One of the middle aged women stepped forwards, and yelled back to her, "What are you talking about, him! All our men are out fighting in the war!"

"Fools! You know perfectly well who I'm talking about! _Give him to me!_" The Princess hollered.

"Looking for someone?" It was Aang. Katara gasped audibly.

Azula smirked. So he was here. "Well, avatar, what are you going to do? Watch, as I destroy these people one by one, or come with me?" She demanded, spurting fire at another tent, which was burning in an instant.

The avatar! Katara felt faint. If Aang was the avatar, why didn't he tell them? And why did he give himself up?

Aang's brows were furrowed, as if deep in thought. Glaring at her, he replied, "I'm coming."

Turning to face Katara, he whispered, "Look after Appa for me until I get back."

Aang ventured forwards, hands raised in the air, and he was immediately jumped on by four Fire Nation soldiers, and bound with ropes. They led him up the ramp and onto the ship.

As the door closed, Aang gave Katara a reassuring smile, before daylight was completely obscured, and he was plunged into darkness.


	4. The Stowaway

**Author's notes: MY GOD!!! I promised another chapter before christmas, and here it is, a bit more than an hour before midnight. I've never done anything with so many POV's before, and it's long too. This chapter is dedicated to Animefangirlwrites4ever, my most faithful reviewer, who's story's I also enjoy. Lioness also deserves a mention, so THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!! Merry Xmas everybody!!!**

Chapter IV : THE STOWAWAY

The door creaked open quietly, casting a long, flickering shadow in the torchlight that glowed gently in the cold, musty prison. A young soldier in fire nation uniform poked his head around the door, shyly. He let his eyes wander to the centre of the room, where the captive was held in tough bonds of a fairly glowing blue metal, and when he saw that the prisoner was tranquil, cautiously placed his right foot within the boundaries of the supposed impenetrable room. Stepping inside, he mentally prepared himself for whatever might come flying his way from the incarcerated youth, but none came. Letting his gaze drop, he saw the man's meal sitting beside him in a plain wooden bowl, and could guess why he had not yet been burned to a crisp: there was no way that the detainee could possibly eat that by himself, his hands were hardly able to move more than the width of his palm in any direction, and besides which, he looked like he might just drop if it weren't for the chains holding him upright.

"Let's get this over with."

"Aaah!" he soldier jumped in surprise, losing all sense of self-discipline for a moment, but quickly regained control, and focused on the job at hand. The person who had spoken to him was not even looking in his direction, but his voice carried well in the empty space, greatly impressing the already unsure guard. After all the guy had been through, he still had enough pride and will power to speak up for himself, which was more than most of the prisoners of the residence could do after a mere week of the supreme conditions applied here.

"Right…" the guard advanced on the prisoner slowly, as if waiting for the prisoner to attack him, but the youth didn't even bother to look up, thus unnerving the uniformed soldier more than necessary.

Shuffling forwards, the soldier hesitated before picking up the bowl, and looked up into the prisoner's eyes. For the brief second they met, the guard could read what was written in the seemingly endless orbs of gold and glass, and the sheer determination he found there was almost scary. He bent over again, and picked up the bowl, and the chopsticks next to it, but lost his nerve again. Instead, he took a ring of keys from his pocket, and turning to face the spot where the shackles binding the prince were attached to the metal post securing his to the ground, and loosened the chains just enough so that the prince's hands could almost meet; almost, but not quite, and handed him the uneven, clay bowl with rice, the pair of wooden chopsticks stacked neatly on top.

The fire nation royalty seemed surprised at this gesture, but took the earthenware dish all the same, though before he began to eat, he placed his feet firmly on the ground and stood, straight and tall, so that he stood easily a head higher than the other man. Once he had accomplished this, he picked up the chopsticks with gentle fingers, and began to consume the white grain.

The simple rice tasted delicious to Zuko. How strange: there were flavors he could find now that he had never sought out or discovered before, and they were divine. He closed his eyes, imagining the flavors as colors, flowing from the cutlery into his mouth, right onto the tip of his tongue, and they seemed to dance in his mind for him, forming pictures not even the most carefully chosen words could describe.

He took his time eating the rice. It was so good, he wanted it to last forever, for the taste to leave his mouth dry and tasteless, as it had been for the last few weeks of his stay at the mortal chamber of horrors. Finally, his chopsticks made contact with the bottom of the bowl with a gentle 'chink', and Zuko sighed quietly to himself. Glancing over at the guard, who was absent mindedly fiddling with his finger nails, he took a firm hold of the eating utensil in his right hand, and slid it up his sleeve as discreetly as he could. Once it was held in place where he was sure it wouldn't move, he dropped his bowl tiredly on the metal floor, with a clang that resounded throughout the cell. The left chopstick followed suit, with a much more metallic sound than the first, and came to rest just next to the largest piece left from the bowl.

At the noise, the guard seemed to awaken from his trance, and quickly withdrew the keys from his pocket again, rushing over to the prisoner, hissing from the corner of his mouth, ordering the prince, "Not another sound, you here me!"

The prince snarled, but obeyed hastily, allowing his arms to be confined to their previous limits, as an older, more experienced guard stepped in to investigate the source of disruption. A quick check around the room told him almost everything he needed to know: The prince was secured, the guard had just dropped the bowl by mistake, nothing was wrong. It wouldn't surprise him if the youth had started spitting fireballs at his inferior; once the bowl was empty there was no reason to keep his mouth shut. Snorting, he reached for the door handle, turning his back on the young man chained to the pillars, but as he was opening it, he heard the burnt teenager take a deep breath, and wheeled around, but he was just a split second too late. One of the prince's trademark balls of fire came flying at him, hitting him forcefully in the chest. He fell backwards, right out the doorframe leading to the room with the royal prisoner, into the hallway to the peering eyes of patrolling guards as they wandered around the dreary corridors, bored.

Spluttering he stood up, grasping his heaving chest with both hands, before giving an order that would affect the prince's time in prison greatly:

"Gag him! I only want him to have usage of his mouth during meal times, you hear me!"

Turning to face the prince, he felt no harm in adding, "Which, by the way, you won't be receiving for a while yet, until you learn to behave yourself."

He then staggered out the door as three other guards rushed in to do his bidding, and secure the once distinguished Prince Zuko. Mustering up his strength, the superior trudged along to the infirmary, where he was dreading having to face the head, the woman he was supposed to refer to as his wife…

* * *

Zuko was seized forcefully from behind, hands grabbing his neck and his hair, (which had now grown right down to his waist) and yanking his head upwards, much farther than it would normally go. A thick, calloused hand clawed at his face, suffocating him for a bare moment, which was all the time it took for the prison guards to efficiently bring a greasy white cloth round in front of his face and pull it tight, tying it in a firm knot at the back of his head, so that he was unable to shake it off in anyway. The men holding him then let go and he fell, forwards, until the chains binding his hands caught him, causing further bleeding on his wrists, which had already been rubbed completely raw from the endless metal dangling there. The uniformed men all then hastened from the room in single file, lest one of them get stuck in the doorway. The door slammed shut, and the former crown prince was left all alone.

* * *

From the minute the door shut on Aang's face, things went from bad to worse. He might have felt somewhat better, had his conscience not still been on the fact that he's lied to everybody, just to fell like a normal kid, rather than some all powerful avatar that he wasn't. His thoughts drifted back to reality as Azula spoke to him, her voice both menacing and innocent at the same time.

"Take the avatar below deck! He is mine now!"

Aang listened to her intently, and observed the deck around him. There was no obvious escape around, but he was sure that he would figure out a way—two hands grabbed him from behind, and with his hands bound he couldn't fight them off. A voice spoke from the direction of which the hands had come from.

"Don't struggle, will we now!" Warned one of the men. Next thing Aang knew, he was being fairly dragged along the corridor towards and open door made of heavy metal-

"No!" Aang shouted. Up on deck, Azula heard and smiled. They were doing their job well.

Three days later, Aang was still stuck, and there was no further visible means of getting out either. He had not yet received anything to eat, save around mid-day yesterday, when they had served him something that vaguely resembled the meat Sokka and Katara had cooked for themselves at the South Pole for dinner that one time. They had called it caribou, and had devoured it. Aang, however, had been taught by the monks that all life was sacred, and as a result, was a strict vegetarian. He wouldn't anything that had once been a form of animal life, no matter how irrelevant, so both the meal at the South Pole _and _what he had been served on the ship were completely out of question. Pushing it aside, he listened at the key hole, trying to hear any clip of conversation that might tell him something about where he was going, or if Sokka and Katara and the others were ok, anything at all, really, but all the guards seemed to talk about were what had happened to some guy with a really high status had been thrown in jail, about last night's meal, about anything except he wanted to hear, but tonight, as he eavesdropped again, there was actually an interesting conversation going out-almost right outside his door.

"Yeah, so tomorrow the princess said we'd be docking in Yäzan to put the avatar ashore at the prison there, am I right?"

"Yäzan? But that's where the prince is right now!" Aang groaned silently in his head. He just hoped that this new obstacle, the Fire Nation prince, was as easy to ward off as his sister, seeing as if he were to try and escape, by the sound of it, they were going to have to fight.

"Exactly. It's the highest security in the Fire Nation, I believe, and if the 'almighty avatar' hasn't managed to escape the ship yet, there's no way he's going to escape from that place!"

The other guard shrugged in response. "If you say so…"

They walked past Aang into the corridor beyond where the conversation was lost amongst the other quiet babble in the ship's hold. Aang's head slumped down on to his knees, touching his brow to them in a defeated manner, and he could feel the tears welling up once again in his grey eyes, although he would not allow them to fall. It was then, more than ever, that he first truly felt alone.

* * *

Katara paced back and forth, over the snowy land she had entitled as here home. Discreetly, she rolled up her fluffy blue sleeping bag, and along with it, some odd bits and pieces of food she had gathered from the village storehouse, almost her entire share for the winter, and some dry grass, for Appa. She quietly put all this into one large bag, the only one big enough to fit both those items plus an extra change of clothes, should she need them, and her boomerang, but still have space left over for some of Aang's stuff, because that's where she was going, after Aang. She had checked on Appa earlier that day, and much to her surprise, she had found that the young avatar had already packed himself some provisions similar to the ones she herself had just packed. She slung her bag over her shoulder, groaning slightly under its weight, before creeping out to see the giant sky bison. She used her primitive waterbending to whip up a fog cover as she left her tent, then slipped out of the village unseen by anybody. Then, she ran.

When she finally reached Appa, she flung her bag up, and climbed up after it, landing in the saddle with a gentle plop. She took the airbender's stuff and shoved it into the big bag, slid out of the saddle again, and finally patted Appa on the shoulder before she left again. She hadn't intended to leave just then, it was getting to be 'night' in the South Pole-even though at this time of year, the sun never set, she could feel the moon coursing through her veins, and she was tired, after hurrying all day to get her chores done so she could pack. She would leave first thing tomorrow, before anyone else was up, she decided, and crawled back into the tent she and Sokka shared, and curled up to fall asleep.

* * *

Sokka watched his sister leave the village, with her grandmother's blue bag slung over her shoulder. 'She must be going to find some berries or something, I'll see if I can help her' he thought. 'It might take her mind off the arrow head.' Picking up his club and slinging his boomerang over his back, just in case, he walked after her at a quick rate, intending to catch up with her. "Hey, Kata-" He silenced himself as he saw her true destination, the avatar's flying bison. "No…" He whispered to himself. "She wouldn't leave us-leave _me—_behind, would she?" He kept his eyes glued to the front, as his sister jumped aboard the flying creature, and placed a bag there-he was just about to jump on after her, when she slid off again. He breathed a sigh of relief. But, her bag, she had left it atop! Then in dawned on him, she couldn't leave tonight, it wasn't safe in these weather conditions. There was a thunder clap in the distance, but if she noticed, she certainly didn't show it. She hastened back to the village, where she would sleep for the night. Sokka's brows furrowed in deep thought. 'Well, Katara, you wanted to play this game, only I'm going to beat you at it.' And with that silent declaration, he climbed up onto the flying fluffy great beast, and opened the drawstring bag that everything was stuffed in. There wasn't much room, but he could just about squeeze in, in between his sister's sleeping bag, and the airbender's yellow tunic. Making himself as small as possible, he eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Katara woke up bright and early the next morning, according to plan. Glancing next to her, she noticed that Sokka hadn't some in all night-he never made his own bed. Wondering what could have happened, she was about to creep out when it dawned upon her that her gran-gran might worry if she left for no apparent reason, so she wrote a quick note on canvas of her tent, explaining in a few, well chosen words what she was going to do, and that afterwards, she was going to continue on to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending from a true master, before finally truly leaving her tent. Quietly she took down the poles; Sokka could sleep with Gran Gran for a while, she'd be back.

After a few minutes of brisk walking, she saw her furry friend in the distance, and quickening her pace to a run, jumped on his head, and cast a long glance back at the village. A single tear slid down her cheek. If only Sokka was with her-but then, he would never understand, or let her go, for that matter. Another tear, but she wiped it from her face, and pulled the reins, a determined air about her. "Appa- yip yip." And the giant sky bison took off, jolting someone awake behind her…

* * *

Sokka was jolted awake by a sudden movement, Appa must have been taking off. His boomerang hit him on the head, causing him to see starts for a moment, but then it was smooth, easy flying, almost like walking on land, except with an odd sensation in his stomach, like it was in his mouth… He swallowed hard to avoid tossing his sea prunes, as Appa lurched and jolted, apparently loving the sensation of flying around in circles. Sokka would swear that he did a complete loop-de-loop once or twice. Settling down again, he decided he would just have to wait a little longer until they were far enough away from the Southern Water Tribe for Katara to want to turn back.

Three hours later, Katara's stomach started to rumble, and it was only then she realized that she had forgotten to eat breakfast before she went. Temporarily abandoning her post on the fuzzy flying beast's head, she shuffled over to her bag and pulled on the cream drawstrings. She reached her hand inside to where she was sure she had placed the food, and reached for it, but instead-"Aaaah!!!" She screamed. There was something alive, wriggling inside her bag! The creature made a groaning noise, and Katara screamed again. She used her waterbending to access a floating bubble of water from the ocean, and just as the thing started to exit the bag, she flung the water at it with all her force, sending it flying backwards, right out of the saddle. Satisfied, she turned back to the front, no longer even remembering why she had gone into the bag in the first place.

* * *

Sokka went flying as his sister's water hit him full force in the face. Tumbling backwards, he somersaulted over the back of the saddle, on to Appa's large, broad tail. Clinging onto the saddle for dear life, Sokka hollered at his sister, "KA-TA-RA! HELP!!" Katara sat bolt upright, and once again readied her water, prepared to pounce on the source of noise, but as she peered over the edge, she tossed it away, and yelled out in delight. She grabbed onto his already slipping wrist, and between the two of them, managed to wrestle Sokka up into safety.

"Sokka, I knew you'd come!" Katara cried, flinging her arms around her brother, nearly suffocating him.

"Woah, I thought you'd be mad at me for tagging along. Why did you decide to go?"

"Sokka, I knew you wouldn't understand. If Aang really is the avatar then we have to help him. In fact-"

"No, Katara, Why did you decided to go _alone._" She fell silent as the statement cut through the air, piercing Katara's heart.

"Because, Because…" She could only stutter and stammer, and her senseless babble made Sokka's head spin.

"Oh, just forget it. Maybe you'll make more sense once you've had something to eat. I know I will, I've been sitting in that blasted saddle all night, waiting for the take off." This was too much, and Katara broke down in tears. Using her waterbending to wipe them away, she smiled gratefully at her older brother, and turned back towards the reins, but was stopped by his arm grabbing at the back of her parka. "Oh no, you don't. Here." He stated, shoving some seal jerky in her face. "And in the mean time, _I _want a flying lesson." Katara giggled.

"No offense, Sokka, but unless you sprout wings, that's not going to happen!" Her only response was a glare from the warrior's direction. He started to explain himself, accompanied by angry gestures, but didn't get very far, as for a change, Katara decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and cut him off.

"Oh, you know what I mean, silly. It's pretty simple. To take off or speed up, say 'yip yip'. To turn left, pull the reins this way, " she indicated to him one direction, "and the opposite for the other way. To go down, you do it this way…" she continued. By the end of her brief conversation, Sokka could already effectively drive a sky bison. But their fun was spoiled by a sight in front of them: They had already caught up with Azula's ship. And it was headed towards what looked like a giant city made of the same material as the metal on the princess's ship, all in blood red and black. This didn't look good. The two water tribe sibling exchanged glances. And, taking a deep breath, they jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

**Does anyone have a good name for the prison? 'Cause I really need one...**


End file.
